Gov't, doctors continue negotiations, pharmacists call for talks

Medical services were normalized Wednesday following the cancellation of the general doctors' strike Tuesday, but the government and doctors have yet to strike a deal on the medical reform plan.

With doctors returning to their jobs, clinics and hospitals regained vitality with increased numbers of patients Wednesday. In particular, university hospitals were partially operational as the professor-doctors who went on strike with interns and residents in early August returned to work.

Interns and residents did not return to their duties as they vowed to continue their walkout until concrete results, such as the re-revision of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law, are produced, but many of them helped professor-doctors care for outpatients and patients requiring emergency treatment through the ¡°Real Medical Service Team.¡±

The emergency committee of interns and residents were known to be seeking solidarity with civic groups or pharmacists¡¯ groups to conclude the medical reform and the question of re-revising the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law, including the 50 percent subsidy to regional medical insurance from state coffers.

The committee decided to consider a plan to promote the support for regional medical insurance from the national treasury and the expansion of the medical care guarantee through an agreement with civic organizations to help their struggle for medical reform bear fruit.

In a recent meeting of hospital representatives at Samsung Seoul Hospital, the committee decided to coordinate opinions with the pharmacists in advance on the issue of re-revising the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law as pharmacists are expected to resist strongly if the law is amended again through dialogue between the government and doctors, committee sources said.

The committee also decided to scale down the strike in stages if the government-doctors dialogue produces tangible results, they added.

Meanwhile, government officials and doctors continued their dialogue at the National Health Industrial Promotion Center in Noryangjin-dong, Dongjak-dong, Seoul, Wednesday, but failed to narrow their differences on such core issues as means to terminate the pharmacists' dispensing of medication without doctors' prescriptions.

The Korea Pharmaceutical Affairs Association claimed, "The government announced that it would discuss the revision of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law in the consultative council of doctors, pharmacists and government officials, but is holding behind-the-scenes dialogue only with doctors."

It demanded that the government immediately make public the contents of the secret discussions and engage in negotiations with pharmacists.